Welcome to the fifth nstallment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging...

Katy, TX - On Friday, April 19th, Jordan Larson and Luga Quarter Horses, LLC Custom Cash Advance earned a score of 228.5 to take the National Reining Breeders Classic Open Classic Challenge and in the process earned CRI3* and USEF Open 1 class wins. Their score as one point better than runner up Andrea Frappani and Star for the Chicks. When asked about the horsem, a 7 year old Stallion, Larson said “He’s the brokest thing, rides like a machine and he makes me look good. He is a...

The seventh in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Before we learn to read we must learn the ABC’s. William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (1593-1676) suggested an analogy between the education of a child and horse trainers who made unrealistic demands on young horses. Centuries ago he asked, ‘I would fain ask such stupid people, whether, by beating a boy, they could teach him to read, without first showing him his alphabet?’1 Systematic progressive training is not...

Tampa, FL - Riders demonstrated their proficiency in the equitation classes at the Tampa Equestrian Festival's Tournament of Champions today. Earning the top accolade in the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship class was Hanna Marco on Careman. Testing Jose Gamarra's equitation course to first place in the Pessoa USEF Hunt Seat Medal was Morgan Ward riding Blitz DU Maris. In the Amateur-Owner Hunters Robin Swinderman earned two blues for her efforts aboard INXS. The ASPCA Maclay course, by...

Malmö, Sweden – The Organizing Committee of the FEI Reining World Final announced today that Entries in Principle for the 2011 event will be the strongest in the sport’s history. With intended participation from 20 nations, the WRF will be held at the renowned equestrian facility of Bökeberg, just outside of Malmö, Sweden, offering several days of FEI Reining classes and the $100,000 FEI World Reining Final on May 21, 2011. The FEI Reining World Final is a reinvention of the old FEI World...

Lexington, KY - Following their Committee Meeting on March 29, the Eligible Eventing Athletes Committee decided that they would like to have another opportunity to interview the two short-listed candidates for the position of U.S. Eventing Chef d'Equipe/Technical Advisor, which becomes available in 2013. Leslie Law and David O'Connor were named to the Short List by a Search Committee earlier this month. The Eligible Eventing Athletes Committee considered the applicants and decided they wanted...

Jim Kofford as Batman. (Photo by Alyson Sanderford/PMG.) Wellington, FL - Last night, the world famous Player's Club hosted the grand finale of Dressage Under the Stars, where at the end of the evening, Jim "Batman" Kofford was crowned the series champion. During the evening, the winners from the previous weeks returned to compete for the 2011 championship including Chris Von Martels, Jim Kofford, Marcia Kulak, Dottie Morkis, and Emily Kannenstine. Judges for this week included Todd Flettrich,...

Oklahoma City, OK – Two of the nation’s top NRHA Processionals are coming to Colorado for the 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Regional Clinic Series May 21-22. NRHA Professionals Randy Paul and Tracer Gilson will once again share their expertise to benefit Reiners of all ages and experience levels at Skyline Ranch in Carbondale, CO. NRHA Professional Randy Paul reached one of the industry’s great milestones by becoming a Million Dollar Rider in 2008. Paul has had a long and...

Oklahoma City, OK – The 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Regional Clinic Series is coming to Santa Fe, NM, May 14-15. NRHA Professionals Stefano Massigan and Marco Ricotta will hold a clinic for reiners of all ages and experience levels at the Santa Fe Equestrian Center. Massignan, an NRHA European Futurity finalist and multiple Italian Reining Horse Association (IRHA) Futurity, Derby and Maturity finalist, recently relocated to the Southwest with his wife Ky. Their new operation...

The equine genetics research group at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine is collaborating with Ray Geor, BVSc, MVSc, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, professor and chair of the department of large animal clinical sciences at Michigan State University, and Nicholas Frank, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor of large animal clinical sciences at the University of Tennessee, to investigate the occurrence and genetics of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). Bob Coleman, PhD, PAS,...